Governor Hochul: “I have marched with all of you. I have stood with you shoulder to shoulder to say, ‘We are one face of government, and we are together in this." And that's what I'm going to continue to do is help rebuild the ranks.’”
Hochul: “We are signing a bill to require civil service to issue announcements of exam to BOCES, to high schools, to colleges, to local districts, and job training programs because we're not hiding it anymore. That's what I'm talking about. Especially for our high schools, when those kids aren't sure what they want to do – they don't know what they want to study, they're not sure they want to go to college at all. This is if you have the guidance counselors and the parents who are educated about all the possibilities and the options, that's how we can grab them while they're young.”
Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul signed two pieces of legislation to expand access to opportunities in civil service. Legislation (S. 5486/A. 6855) requires the Department of Civil Service and municipal civil service commissions to make civil service examination announcements to the local Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), school districts, public colleges, public universities, local social services districts, and, to the extent practicable, job training programs. Legislation (A. 7155/S. 5494) requires that any time spent as a provisional employee be counted towards an employees' probationary term upon receiving for a permanent appointment in the same title. The Governor signed the legislation in Albany at a stop on the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees’ and the Civil Service Employee Association’s “Staff the Front Lines” Bus Tour, joined by AFSCME President Lee Saunders and CSEA President Mary Sullivan.
VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.
AUDIO of the event is available here.
PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.
A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:
Thank you, Mary. Thank you so much.
I've been thinking about this gathering for a long time, what I would say to people that really embody our view of what a public servant is - the people you represent, the life that perhaps you led, someone out in the front lines taking care of our people. And I was wondering whether you feel the same nobility, and that is the word I associate with public service that John Kennedy thought of when he hearkened a generation to join him as a public servant - a speech that inspired me later in my career to decide I want to join the ranks because none of us should ask what our country can do for us, but the question is, what can we do for our country and our state? And you have all answered the call.
You answer the call by showing up and agreeing to be part of a team of individuals, a vast, diverse team of people who touch every facet of our lives, helping our children get on a bus to go to school safely, making sure that our families are safe and taken care of in a hospital, making sure that someone is, yes, like I used to do, running the DMV, sometimes one of the most thankless jobs out there because nobody walks in that door with a smile on their face. But I was a county clerk. I told my team when I had the most incredibly dedicated individuals working with me, and I called them my friends. I said, "You have the power, as the face of government to these people, to change their attitudes about how they feel about their government. Your smile, your kind word, your understanding, your compassion. Even at a time when you've got tough things going on at home, your life might be turned upside down, you might be dealing with a pandemic, but as you continue to be forward facing to the public and let them know that they have a government that cares, that we give a damn about the people, and that's how they start changing their attitudes about us in government."
So, I thank all of you as leaders and you hear a lot of frustration among the ranks and you're seeing the ranks diminished. The effect of that is, it has a ripple effect. It's incredible because the people who stay who don't say, "I have to check out, I've had enough. I can't do this anymore. It's just too much." And I understand that feeling, especially after the last few years. But when they leave, the rest to remain have so much more to do, right? The burden falls on their shoulders. There's not an automatic person. Oh, we'll replace them with this already trained person. Don't worry. Your workload won't change. No, you're bearing the burden of all that. That is what this workforce crisis has done. The shortage of workers among the ranks.
Now, you all look a lot younger than I do, but when I was starting out, these were coveted positions - every single one of them. Your grandfather, your grandmother, parents had one of these jobs, and you are public servants, you're a public servant, you work for the people. And you got some benefits, and you could count on a nice retirement and the system would take care of you because you took care of the people.
That was always the promise. You weren't going to make a lot of money, but at the end of your days when you're done working, you knew you're going to be okay. And you had insurance and other benefits that maybe weren't available in the private sector. My gosh, it has changed so much now. The salaries have not kept pace with the private sector. The benefits are now more vast in the private sector as they compete for a smaller pool of individuals. There aren't a lot of big families anymore having all those kids who used to get those civil service jobs. My father had eight kids. I came from a family of six, and I'm only leaving two on this planet.
So, the numbers aren't there. The numbers aren't there. And so far, only one grandbaby, but I'm happy to have more grandbabies. So how do we deal with this? How do we get people to feel that excitement and that energy, that passion that brought all of you to where you are today? That brought me to where I am. Because I'm a hardcore public servant and proud of it. I've been an elected official for almost 30 years, and during that time, I've worked with the most incredible individuals, people like Flo Tripi back in Erie County. She and I went through some tough times. We had a - the commissioner here knows what I'm talking about, right, Commissioner Hogues? We had a, coincidentally, a Republican County Executive who decided that we'd slash the budget. That meant laying off thousands of public servants and shutting down services to the public just to really bring them to their knees so they would see his way. That backfired because I teamed up with Flo and my friends in the public sector and we fought back, and we kept those jobs. We found creative ways to get by because we said, "There are people out there who still need us despite what you're trying to do here."
So, I have marched with all of you. I have stood with you shoulder to shoulder to say, "We are one face of government, and we are together in this." And that's what I'm going to continue to do is help rebuild the ranks. Now the first thing we have to do is stop the hemorrhaging. When you have a hiring freeze, that's not exactly a "Welcome, come apply for a job sign," right? Like, why would I bother? They're not hiring anybody. I'll find another job somewhere else. And there are a lot of jobs. So we had to lift the hiring freeze because people were being denied essential services, and the workforce that was here was being crushed under the weight of the responsibility. It was too much, it was unsustainable. So we lifted the hiring freeze. We also decided that why is it such a hassle? Why is it so hard to take a civil service test? Like, there's all this mystery around it, like who really knows when it's offered? And oh my gosh, it's offered at Erie Community College during a snowstorm in Buffalo in February – and if you don't make that, we'll see you next year. You missed your chance, right?
Come on, turn it upside down. So part of what I had to do is bring in a change agent. I brought an individual who knew how to do this, who knew about snowstorms in Buffalo. I brought the Erie County Commissioner of Civil Service to be my Civil Service Commissioner, and I want him to stand up – Timothy Hogues, if you do not know him. Thank you. He is the face of change because just because something's been done the same way for probably 100 years – when I hear that, I say, “Throw it out. It has gotten old.” And we're going to do things differently now. We have technology. We can bring the test to people. We don't have to be so rigid about it. So I thank you Commissioner for helping lead the charge.
But I also want to thank another leader who realizes this is not just a New York phenomenon, this shortage of workers, but an individual who has made this his passion to let others know how critically important these services are and how fulfilling they really can be. And that is our National President of AFSCME. Lee Saunders has decided literally to take it on the road. He is in a bus traveling across America saying, “Why not you? If you're a young person or someone transitioning from a job that was not fulfilling, why don't you look at all the possibilities because there are thousands and thousands.” So, I thank him for bringing the bus to Albany. You've been all over the country. And we're proud to be able to stand with you.
And I'm proud as your Governor, the people of this great state, to stand with you as well. And I'll also say to Mary Sullivan, this is what a leader looks like. You do not want to be on the wrong side of Mary Sullivan. Just put that out there. You know us Irish girls are tough, right? Yeah. People don't know this, but my real name is Kathleen Mary Courtney. My grandparents are from Ireland. You may not know that from the name Hochul. It's a little misleading, but that's what this is all about.
So we're going to continue doing what we do. We're going to offer tests more frequently, more testing centers just helping people with disabilities get jobs. This is an area my daughter works in. She's passionate about this, trying to help people have those doors open. The unemployment rate among people with disabilities is shocking. And we need the workers and they need to have the dignity of a good job that respects them. It works if we bring them together. That's what I want to focus on as well. That's the great possibility we have.
So I'm also going to sign a couple of bills here. What the heck? We're in Albany, right? I've got my pen. I've got my pen. I can do a lot of damage with a pen or a lot of good. Let's do some good today. We are signing a bill to require civil service to issue announcements of exam to BOCES, to high schools, to colleges, to local districts, and job training programs because we're not hiding it anymore. That's what I'm talking about. Especially for our high schools, when those kids aren't sure what they want to do – they don't know what they want to study, they're not sure they want to go to college at all. This is if you have the guidance counselors and the parents who are educated about all the possibilities and the options, that's how we can grab them while they're young.
And I do believe that not having civics classes taught the way they used to be, the way I was inspired, learning about government as a student and what it does for people, that is literally the reason I am here today. Eighth grade social studies teacher, Mr. Peter James at Hamburg Middle School. It taught me all about government, and I said, “I want to do that. That's how we can live what we're called to do on this earth every single day. And that is to serve others. There are many ways to serve, but I want to serve the people directly.” And that's the call all of you answered as well.
So let's get the kids in high school and middle school when they're still thinking about, “What I can do, what contributions I can make before I leave this earth.” Those are the people we want. Those are the ones who wanted to join AFSCME and CSEA. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to find them, we're going to inspire them, we're going to bring them on with all of us.
And secondly – thank you. We're also going to make sure that public service employees get credit for time spent in provisional positions. You're there, you're showing up, you're doing the work. How do you not get credit for that? Well let's fix that right now. And I'm going to sign this in front of all of you, as God as my witness and all of you, that this is now going to be official.
These two bills are signed. Now give a lovely pen here to Mary. Here you go, Mary. Thank you. I thank you. And what I'm going to say now is throw out a challenge. When we next meet again, hopefully the same time next year, and hopefully that bus will have covered tens of thousands of miles. But as a result, that investment of time and energy and our promotional campaign where we're going to literally go out there on the airwaves and talk about this, that this time next year will reverse the trend.
We'll start filling those 14,000 open jobs I have in our state government alone, and we'll start turning around, turning around and letting people know that there is a reason why we have so many great members of this organization because they know that they're making a difference every single day.
And lastly, the magnet that was on my refrigerator growing up, put there by my mother who started with nothing, had a very difficult life. She and my mom lived in a trailer – my dad lived in a trailer park when they started out life. They had nothing but love and a dream. Mom said, “Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.” You do good every single day and as your Governor, I am grateful. Thank you everyone.